Maybe it was repetition or a feeling of familiarity, but Solomon had no problem waking up early for his first day of training.
He had spent ten years doing this kind of early morning preparation. It was basically second nature to him now.
He got dressed in the relatively simple garments that had been provided for knight students. A simple shirt, a breastplate, cargo slacks and a pair of heavy boots.
Before leaving his room, he paused to check the foot of his bed, where a small black bundle lay asleep ever since ingesting his flesh yesterday.
Solomon hoped that he wasn't poisonous or anything to the little guy...
He grabbed a small blanket and placed it over the young pup to hopefully keep it warm.
Evidently, Solomon's attempt to be nurturing seemed to wake the beast from it's slumber.
It's newborn eyes had yet to open, but it took a whiff of the air and recognized Solomon's scent.
"...What do you think about the name Bansha?" He asked.
In response, the pup bit him and took a large chunk out of his hand.
After swallowing, it sat back on it's haunches and assumed a wary stance.
"…Bansha it is then."
-
An hour before the sun had even begun to rise, Solomon was halfway across the campus, marveling at the facility before him.
A grand silver hall, glimmering with several different points of attraction.
There were entire sections dedicated to working out different sections of the body, as well as unique instruments for doing so.
Solomon saw rows and rows of benches with metal bars stacked with heavy plates. There was a large pit of gravel that he could only assume was meant for sparring, some form of obstacle course, a flat top that appeared to be a meditation space, and a pool of water that had to have spanned at least sixty yards.
Solomon could no longer die, but if he could, he would want to die here.
The fact that he was the first one to get there only added to his excitement. He could walk around and look at everything as long as he wanted without getting interrupted.
And he took extreme advantage.
"Wow..."
"Amazing..."
"How did they think of this...?"
"By the crossroads..."
Solomon took special care to make sure that he didn't miss a thing.
By the time he looked over everything and figured out their functions, the other cadets had started to file into the hall for training.
They seemed slightly daunted by the space at first glance, but none were as moved by what they saw as Solomon had been.
The 'orientation' from two days ago seemed to have had a noticeable effect on the morale of the cadets.
Compared to their first day here, they were far less chatty than before.
Their eyes were tired and hard from a lack of sleep. It was hard to relax when you were constantly reliving something traumatic.
This was something Solomon already knew very well.
However, there were a few cadets who did not seem as troubled as the rest, or as tired.
They were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as they wandered through the facility letting out nods of approval.
Solomon could tell with a glance that those who were unfazed were uniquely different from the rest. In stature and confidence, they seemed unparalleled.
Solomon had to avert his gaze from them. For some reason, the longer he stared, the warmer his blood felt. His expression hardened into something dark.
"You seemed like such a happy biggun a few moments ago."
Solomon nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice come from behind.
A human man was leaning against the obstacle course, his right hand resting on a wooden cane.
He was an older gentleman. Human, with a face filled with old scars and gray hair.
One of his eyes was missing, replaced with a sphere of blue rock easily mistaken for a marble.
Solomon felt slightly embarrassed when he realized he'd been watched while he was under his spell of excitement.
"Not one for crowds and groups, eh?"
"...I do better without them, yes, sir." Solomon answered.
The man snorted as he pulled a hand-rolled cigarette out of his pocket. "Boy, are you about to be in for a tough-time then."
He cocked his head towards the others, telling Solomon to go and join the chattering mass of people.
"Alright, alright, settle down, you little princelings and princesses... we've got a very long few hours ahead of us."
The cadets naturally fall into rows, their positioning as straight as a razor blade.
The instructor swept his eyes over every one of them, then furrowed his brow.
"Is someone having a laugh at my expense, or are there fewer of you little fucks this year?"
The cadets didn't turn their heads, but Solomon could feel the others focusing on him. He pretended not to notice and kept his gaze straight.
"Ah, well.., doesn't make me any difference, really. Let's just begin. All of you strip."
A chill shoots through the air.
Some have no issue with the request and begin undressing right away. Others cannot help but protest what they feel is a violation of their noble ilk. A human male is the first to speak up.
"Y-You must be joking, man! There are maidens here and what you are asking scoffs at their honor as well as-"
A boot hits the noble in the side of the cheek.
"Stop making so much noise, do you want to die…?" A young woman said. "Just get it over with."
In that moment, echoes of the welcoming banquet showed up in the young man's eyes. His cheeks lost their color.
Slowly, just like everyone else, he began to get undressed.
The instructor let out an impressed whistle. "They must have done a real number on you lot at the orientation…"
He dragged his gaze over a caste of students who didn't complain when asked.
They were the unabashedly confident sort. Those whose bodies had been something to be worked at ever since they were born.
Function, lethality, or spectacle, they excelled in all of them. Why cover themselves? Let anyone, everyone see just how far above them they were.
And if those below came to admire them… that was also an acceptable outcome.
Everything was an opportunity, if you were crazy enough that is.
As Solomon begrudgingly got undressed, the instructor waived to someone outside of the cadets' line of sight.
"The point of the exercise is not to leer at each other. It is to judge your individual limitations through a series of examinations. These people are my former students who have so graciously given up their time to be here. I'm sure you may recognize some of them…"
A subtle murmuring seized the crowd.
Fifteen of the most famous knights in all of Komen stood before the class in the flesh.
Unrivaled masters of their respective weaponry, titans that were a head taller than almost everyone in the room.
The aura they exhuded, even when trying to keep it concealed, was something that made the hairs on their necks stand on end.
Solomon was busy comparing faces to descriptions he'd heard when the instructor suddenly blurted something unthinkable.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure you all know my darling little pupils and you'll be busy creaming your undergarments over them later. My name is Abel, I am your head instructor. Let's get started, yes?"